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The objective of this section is to present the best available data on a wide range of health and related indicators.  This should provide health planners and managers with easy access to data from a variety of sources.

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Unemployment rate (official definition)

DefinitionThe official definition of the unemployed is that they are those people within the economically active population (aged 15-65) who

(a) did not have a job or business during the 7 days prior to the interview,

(b) want to work and are available to work within two weeks of the interview, and

(c) have taken active steps to look for work or to start some form of self-employment in the 4 weeks prior to the interview.

Note that the census produces lower estimates of labour force participation because there are less prompts to identify employed people, and the Labour Force Survey provides the official labour market statistics.

ReferenceStatistics South Africa. Statistical release P0210 Labour force survey. (various years)
Ref. URLhttp://www.statssa.gov.za/
DetailsSeptember 2006.
Keywords
Indicator Type: -> Socio-Economic -> Employment

[Related Resources]

Indicator Data
View by [Ethnic] [Geographic (SA provinces)] [International] [District]

ECFSGPKZNLPMPNCNWWCZA
Unemployment rate (official definition) [Definition]
1996 48.530.028.239.146.032.928.537.917.9[1] 33.9
1998 36.921.323.127.235.725.017.926.513.5[2] 25.2
1999 29.823.320.625.934.024.418.123.513.7[3] 23.3
2001 54.643.036.448.748.841.133.443.826.1[4] 41.6
2002 28.133.527.034.336.729.830.030.718.6[5] 29.4
2003 31.828.628.231.330.625.027.529.420.6[6] 28.2
2004 32.526.128.232.230.825.722.330.416.9[7] 27.8
2005 29.930.222.832.830.126.924.727.418.9[8] 26.7
2006 32.026.523.226.632.028.028.729.715.0[9] 25.5
2007 26.125.217.430.027.322.026.024.615.7[10] 22.7
EC: Eastern Cape  FS: Free State  GP: Gauteng  KZN: KwaZulu-Natal  LP: Limpopo  MP: Mpumalanga  NC: Northern Cape  NW: North West  WC: Western Cape  ZA: South Africa  

Notes and References

  1. Census 1996: Statistics South Africa. Census in Brief. The people of South Africa population census 1996. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa; 1998. http://www.statssa.gov.za/
    Local copy: -
    In the Census 1996 document it is noted that: In the census questionnaire, questions were not asked on work-seeking behaviour in the four weeks prior to the night of Census '96. Therefore we cannot use the new official definition in this publication to describe unemployment rates. Instead, the expanded definition will be used, and all figures and percentages in this issue are based on expanded unemployment rates. However in some of the Census 2001 publications, the 1996 and 2001 Unemployment rates are compared, as 'official unemployment rates'.
  2. StatsSA OHS: Statistics South Africa. Statistical Release PO317 October Household Survey. (various years) http://www.statssa.gov.za/ The 1999 OHS survey gathered detailed information on approximately 140 000 people living in 30 000 households. The survey covers a range of development and poverty indicators, including unemployment rates. The OHS of 1999 was drawn from a master sample, in which households from the same primary sampling until will be visited for a variety of surveys. This was the first time that a master sample was used to select households to be interviewed. Altogether 3000 EAs were drawn in 1999. The 1999 OHS, in common with the 1997 and 1998 OHS, was weighted to reflect estimates of the population size based on the population census of 1996.
    Local copy: -
    Table 5.1 (population groups) and Table 2.1.1 (provinces) OHS 1998
  3. StatsSA OHS: Statistics South Africa. Statistical Release PO317 October Household Survey. (various years) http://www.statssa.gov.za/ The 1999 OHS survey gathered detailed information on approximately 140 000 people living in 30 000 households. The survey covers a range of development and poverty indicators, including unemployment rates. The OHS of 1999 was drawn from a master sample, in which households from the same primary sampling until will be visited for a variety of surveys. This was the first time that a master sample was used to select households to be interviewed. Altogether 3000 EAs were drawn in 1999. The 1999 OHS, in common with the 1997 and 1998 OHS, was weighted to reflect estimates of the population size based on the population census of 1996.
    Local copy: -
    Table 5.1 (population groups) and Table 2.1.1 (provinces) OHS 1999
  4. Census 2001: Statistics South Africa. Census 2001. Census in Brief. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa; 2003. http://www.statssa.gov.za/ There is a range of publications providing data from Census 2001, as well as an online database for downloading selected data.
    Local copy: -
  5. StatsSA Labour Force Survey: Statistics South Africa. Statistical release P0210 Labour force survey. (various years) http://www.statssa.gov.za/
    Local copy: http://www.hst.org.za/indicators/StatsSA/LFS/
    February 2002. Tables 2.4.1 and 2.5.1
  6. StatsSA Labour Force Survey: Statistics South Africa. Statistical release P0210 Labour force survey. (various years) http://www.statssa.gov.za/
    Local copy: http://www.hst.org.za/indicators/StatsSA/LFS/
    This is a decrease. However there is no significant increase in employment over the same period. The drop in unemployment rate is most probably due to discouraged job seekers no longer being classified as unemployed. This is reflected in the increase in the number of not economically active people. September 2003.
  7. StatsSA Labour Force Survey: Statistics South Africa. Statistical release P0210 Labour force survey. (various years) http://www.statssa.gov.za/
    Local copy: http://www.hst.org.za/indicators/StatsSA/LFS/
    March 2004.
  8. StatsSA Labour Force Survey: Statistics South Africa. Statistical release P0210 Labour force survey. (various years) http://www.statssa.gov.za/
    Local copy: http://www.hst.org.za/indicators/StatsSA/LFS/
    September 2005.
  9. StatsSA Labour Force Survey: Statistics South Africa. Statistical release P0210 Labour force survey. (various years) http://www.statssa.gov.za/
    Local copy: http://www.hst.org.za/indicators/StatsSA/LFS/
    September 2006.
  10. StatsSA Labour Force Survey: Statistics South Africa. Statistical release P0210 Labour force survey. (various years) http://www.statssa.gov.za/
    Local copy: http://www.hst.org.za/indicators/StatsSA/LFS/
    September 2007 (revised Aug 2008).
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